Davis, Richard H., 1951-

Lives of Indian images / Richard H. Davis.

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, ©1997.

xiii, 331 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

For many centuries, Hindus have taken it for granted that the religious images they place in temples and home shrines for purposes of worship are alive. Hindu priests bring them to life through a complex ritual "establishment" that invokes the god or goddess into material support. Priests and devotees then maintain the enlivened image as a divine person through ongoing liturgical activity: they must awaken it in the morning, bathe it, dress it, feed it, entertain it, praise it, and eventually put it to bed at night. In this linked series of case studies of Hindu religious objects, Richard Davis argues that in some sense these believers are correct: through ongoing interactions with humans, religious objects are brought to life. Davis draws largely in reader-response literary theory and anthropological approaches to the study of objects in society in order to trace the biographies of Indian religious images over many centuries.

069102622X (cloth ; alk. paper)
9780691026220 (cloth ; alk. paper)

Hindu gods in art.
Hindu sculpture.
Art and anthropology India.
Dieux hindous dans l'art.
Sculpture hindoue.
Art et anthropologie Inde.
Art and anthropology.
Gottesdarstellung
Hinduistische Kunst
Plastische kunst.
Hindoeïsme.
Godenbeelden.
India.

Location: Library main 212699
Call No.: NB1912.H55 D3 1997
Status: Available